Melt in your mouth tomatoes + crispy garlic Italian dressing

Updated: May 19

My dinners look like this most nights- miscellaneous leftovers with a salad on the side. This included mushroom risotto, sautéed tomatoes, and a salad with carrots, hot peppers, pine nuts, and green onions. And beef that didn’t make the picture! The dressing I put on the salad is so easy, and a cure for boring greens. It’s an Italian dressing with crispy garlic- slightly tangy, savory, and flavorful. I also included a recipe for the sautéed tomatoes- a staple of mine for dinner; I’ve made many variations of this over the years. Savory and melt in your mouth!

-Puncture the tomatoes about 3 or 4 times so they have several deep gashes. It’s important to do this step so the tomatoes will release liquid. If you don’t, they’ll be bombs of extremely hot tomato juice, hah!

-Heat a large saucepan, or a pot to medium. When warm, add EVOO

-When the EVOO is heated through, add the tomatoes and let cook for a minute or two, stirring.

-Add butter, then increase the heat to medium high. Let the tomatoes cook for about 5 mins, then add the sliced garlic.

-Pour in the wine and fresh squeezed lemon.

-Add all of the seasonings, stir again, then let the tomatoes cook for about 10-15 mins. You want the liquids to have reduced so the sauce isn’t too thin, but a creamy consistency. The tomatoes will be split and are soft to the touch.

-Remove from heat, and serve immediately. Enjoy!

*The white wine is optional! If you prefer to omit, it's totally fine. Taste to see If the seasonings need adjusting (perhaps a tiny bit more salt).

Crispy Garlic Italian Dressing

~ 10 garlic cloves, sliced thin

~2 Tbsp grass fed butter, ghee, or Avocado oil

¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

~2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

½ tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp dried onion flakes

½ tsp Italian seasoning

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp salt (I like to use flake salt for this)

-Slice garlic cloves thin

-Heat a small sauce pan to medium

When heated, add the butter or ghee. You could also use Avocado oil

Let the oil heat through, then add the sliced garlic

-Let garlic cook through for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the garlic to be a light golden color, and slightly crisp. When it reached this point, remove from heat and let cool for about 5 mins.

-While the garlic is cooking, whisk together the EVOO, balsamic vinegar, lemon, and all of the spices. When the garlic has cooled a bit, mix it when the rest of the ingredients.

-This makes enough dressing for about 2-3 large salads (that serve approximately 3 people). It depends on how much dressing you like to use!